Work stress, burnout, and social and personal resources among direct care workers

Abstract

Work stress is endemic among direct care workers (DCWs) who serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Social resources, such as work social support, and personal resources, such as an internal locus of control, may help DCWs perceive work overload and other work-related stressors as less threatening and galvanize them to cope more effectively to prevent burnout. However, little is known about what resources are effective for coping with what types of work stress. Thus, we examined how work stress and social and personal resources are associated with burnout for DCWs. We conducted a survey of DCWs (n = 323) from five community-based organizations that provide residential, vocational, and personal care services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Participants completed a self-administered survey about their perceptions of work stress, work social support, locus of control, and burnout relative to their daily work routine. We conducted multiple regression analysis to test both the main and interaction effects of work stress and resources with respect to burnout. Work stress, specifically work overload, limited participation decision-making, and client disability care was positively associated with burnout (p < .001). The association between work social support and burnout depended on the levels of work overload (p < .05), and the association between locus of control and burnout depended on the levels of work overload (p < .05) and participation in decision-making (p < .05). Whether work social support and locus of control make a difference depends on the kinds and the levels of work stressors. The findings underscore the importance of strong work-based social support networks and stress management resources for DCWs.

Psychological Capital Qualities and Psychological Well-Being in Australian Mental Health Professionals

“…Experiences at work, whether physical, emotional or social in nature, affect the person; moreover, these experiences "spill over" into non-work life domains (Danna & Griffin, 1999). This issue may be exacerbated among those working in mentally and emotionally demanding work, such as in mental health services (Ben-Zur & Michael, 2007;Cooper & Cartwright, 1994;Elliot & Guy, 1993;Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011;Lloyd, King, & Chenoweth, 2002;Moore & Cooper, 1996;Totterdell, Wood, & Wall, 2006).…”

“…Indeed, stress and burnout and their impacts have been well documented among mental health professional groups including nurses, social workers and psychotherapists (Ben-Zur & Michael, 2007;Demerouti, Baker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli, 2001;Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011;Harvey & Burns, 1994;Lloyd et al, 2002;Pines, 2008;Thoresen, Kaplan, Barsky, Warren, & De Chermont, 2003;Webster & Bergman, 1999;Welbourne et al, 2006;Winstanley & Whittinton, 2002). Such research has indicated that mental health workers appear to experience higher levels than do general community members of emotional distress, generalised anxiety, depression and burnout rates.…”

“…Professional staff members working in human services, many in the mental health field (e.g., psychologists, social workers and nurses) often spend intensive amounts of time involved in others' lives (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter, 2001) and they are subject to increased risk of chronic stress, fatigue and frustration from the continuous commitment to helping others (Ben-Zur & Michael, 2007;Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011). Understanding how current mental health employees deal with their workplace including their perceived psychological capital resources, perceived abilities to cope, and psychological well-being and how they differ from other workers, may help inform theory and practice and help reduce personal and organisational costs for those in the mental health industry.…”

“…We examined just two aspects that appeared particularly relevant-that of active or action coping and coping using peer group social support for emotion regulation (see Method-Coping). Social and personal resources (i.e., social support, active or problem-solving coping strategies, and internal locus of control) have been found to help employees handle work-related stressors and work overload (Ben-Zur & Michael, 2007;Cohen & Willis, 1985;Corbin, Farmer, & Nolen-Hoekesma, 2013;Gray-Stanley & Muramatsu, 2011;Hussong, 2003). Also emotion coping (but not avoidance coping) has also been found in a limited number of studies to have positive effects (cf; Litman, 2006;Stanton et al, 2000;Wood, Joseph, & Linley, 2007).…”

“…Limited research has existed on the mental health of mental health workers; the studies in the United States by Gray-Stanley and Muramatsu (2011) and in Israel by Ben-Zur and Michael (2007) being the main exceptions. Special attention was given in our study to psychological capital focusing on an Australian sample of mental health workers who were currently working in the field.…”